Thailand Defends Law Protecting Royals After U.S. Citizen Jailed

Dec. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Thailand defended laws protecting
the country’s royal family from insults amid growing
international criticism of “harsh” prison sentences in recent
weeks for a U.S. citizen and 61-year-old retired truck driver.

The lese-majeste law “is not aimed at curbing people’s
rights to freedom of opinion and expression nor the legitimate
exercise of academic freedom, including debates about the
monarchy as an institution,” Thani Thongphakdi, foreign
ministry spokesman, said in a statement late yesterday.

The law mandates jail sentences as long as 15 years for
defaming, insulting or threatening the king, queen, heir
apparent or regent. The United Nations human rights office last
week said the law had a “chilling effect” on free speech and
called for it to be amended.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s four-month-old
government has sought to block websites deemed insulting to King
Bhumibol Adulyadej, who took the throne in 1946 and turned 84
earlier this month. About 100 activists denounced the lese-majeste law on Dec. 10 in a protest in Bangkok, online news
outlet Prachatai reported.

A Thai court today reduced Daranee Charncherngsilapakul’s
prison sentence for insulting the country’s royal family to 15
years from 18 years. Daranee had appealed a 2009 verdict in
which a court found her guilty of three charges stemming from
her claim in a public speech that King Bhumibol and Queen
Sirikit backed a 2006 coup against former Prime Minister Thaksin
Shinawatra, Yingluck’s brother.

“I have no plan to appeal the court’s verdict and I’m
ready to serve time in jail,” Daranee, who has been locked up
since 2008, told reporters at the court after the hearing.

Blocking Websites

Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yoobamrung said yesterday the
government would spend 400 million baht ($12.7 million) to
purchase legal intercept technology that can block websites that
insult the monarchy.

Police asked a Thai court yesterday to block 116 websites
and five arrest warrants of webmasters were approved, said
Worapong Chewprecha, a member of a committee set up by Chalerm
to monitor for lese-majeste content.

“Those who abuse their rights by spreading hate speech or
distorted information to incite violence and hatred among Thais
as well as towards the monarchical institution in contravention
to the law –- whether through the Internet, online social
networks, communication device or otherwise –- have to be held
accountable,” Thani said in the statement.

‘Harsh Sentencing’

U.S. citizen Joe Gordon, who was born in Thailand and also
goes by the name Lerpong Wichaikhammat, received a 2 1/2-year
prison sentence on Dec. 8 for translating an unauthorized
biography of King Bhumibol and posting it on a website. Two
weeks earlier, Ampol Tangnoppakul, 61, received a 20-year jail
term for sending four text messages that defamed Queen Sirikit,
one of the longest jail terms given under the lese-majeste law.

The European Union delegation in Thailand said Nov. 28 it
was “deeply concerned” about Ampol’s sentence and urged Thai
authorities to uphold freedom of expression. State Department
spokesman Mark Toner said Dec. 8 the U.S. is “troubled by the
outcome” of Gordon’s case.

“We are concerned about the ongoing trials and harsh
sentencing of people convicted of lese majeste in Thailand and
the chilling effect that this is having on freedom of expression
in the country,” Ravina Shamdasani, Geneva-based spokeswoman of
the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in a Dec. 9
statement. “Such harsh criminal sanctions are neither necessary
nor proportionate and violate the country’s international human
rights obligations.”

Thani said both Gordon and Ampol were “accorded due
process as provided by the Thai Criminal Procedures Code
including the right to fair trial, due opportunity to contest
the charges and assistance from their lawyer. They are also
entitled to the right to appeal.”

Cases Rising

Since 2005, a year before the coup that ousted Thaksin, the
number of lese-majeste cases before the lower courts has
increased 15 times to 478 last year, according to statistics
compiled by David Streckfuss, an academic based in northeast
Thailand. The military cited Thaksin’s disrespect of King
Bhumibol as one of the reasons it overthrew him.

Yingluck took power on Aug. 9 after her Pheu Thai party won
a majority in July elections. Several party members who led
anti-government protests last year while serving as the
opposition, including Jatuporn Prompan, have faced accusations
of insulting the royal family.

Thailand’s constitution says the king “shall be enthroned
in a position of revered worship and shall not be violated.”
King Bhumibol’s picture is hung in the majority of Thai homes
and a royal anthem praising him is played before movies in
theaters across the country.